> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.usefusion.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Running a Study

> End-to-end guide for conducting a research study with NeuroFusion.

This guide covers the full lifecycle of running a study on NeuroFusion — from planning through participant operations and data export.

## 1. Plan Your Study Design

Before creating anything on the platform, outline:

* **Research questions** — what are you investigating?
* **Data types** — prompts (surveys), experiments (tasks), brain recordings, health metrics?
* **Participant pool** — direct recruitment, Prolific, or in-lab?
* **Duration** — single-session experiment, daily prompts for weeks/months, or both?
* **Eligibility criteria** — do you need to screen participants? (age, consent, demographics)

## 2. Create an Organization and Invite Collaborators

1. [Create an organization](/organizations/creating-an-org) for your study
2. Invite co-investigators and research assistants as members
3. Assign [granular permissions](/organizations/members-and-permissions) — e.g., give RAs quest editing access but not billing access

## 3. Build the Quest

1. **Create a quest** under your organization ([Creating a Quest](/quests/creating-a-quest))
2. **Add prompts** for recurring data collection if your study needs scheduled surveys ([Prompts](/prompts/overview))
   * Choose response types, categories, and schedules
   * Set up conditional notifications if prompts depend on prior answers
   * Skip this step for experiment-only or recording-only study designs
3. **Add experiments** for interactive tasks ([Experiments](/experiments/overview))
   * Write jsPsych code or paste existing experiments
   * Upload stimulus media (images, audio, video)
   * Configure ordering for multi-experiment quests
4. **Configure onboarding** for consent and screening ([Onboarding](/onboarding/overview))
   * Write a full-text consent overview
   * Add screening questions with question guards
   * Enable kiosk mode if using shared devices
5. **Set up participant operations**
   * Create cohorts for the groups you want to track
   * Review the participant roster after enrollment begins
   * Use the quest detail page to configure a simple baseline / follow-up schedule per cohort

## 4. Fund the Organization

Check your org's credit balance and [purchase credits](/billing/purchasing-credits) if needed. Use the **[price calculator](https://usefusion.ai/pricing)** to estimate your total study cost based on participant count, prompts, experiments, and data types.

<Tip>
  Quest creation and onboarding responses are **free** — you only start spending credits when you publish and participants join.
</Tip>

## 5. Publish and Recruit

1. Click **Publish** on your quest
2. Share with participants via:
   * **Direct link** — copy the quest URL
   * **QR code** — for in-person recruitment
   * **Prolific** — paste the quest URL as your Prolific study URL. Prolific parameters (`PROLIFIC_PID`, `STUDY_ID`, `SESSION_ID`) are captured automatically. See [Prolific Integration](/integrations/prolific).

## 6. Monitor Participants, Responses, and Billing

From the participant and quest workspaces:

* **Participant roster** — review who joined, which cohort they belong to, and the current study status
* **Schedule & compliance** — set a compact baseline / follow-up schedule and review due / overdue state by participant
* **Response data** — view prompt responses, onboarding responses, experiment data, and recordings as they come in
* **Billing summary** — track per-quest spending, broken down by item type and source (web vs. mobile)
* **Transaction history** — review all credit transactions
* **Audit Log** — review which team members viewed, downloaded, deleted, or analyzed data

<Info>
  Fusion still uses **Quest** as the product term in the UI. In practice, the quest detail and participant pages function as the current study-operations workspace.
</Info>

## 7. Export and Analyze Data

* Export prompt responses, experiment data, and recordings for analysis in your preferred tools (R, Python, SPSS, etc.)
* On mobile, participants can export experiment data as JSON files
* Data types available for export:
  * `prompt_responses` — answers to recurring prompts
  * `experiment_trials` — jsPsych experiment results
  * `brain_recordings` — EEG data from Neurosity Crown or Muse
  * `health` — steps, sleep, heart rate from wearables
  * `onboarding_responses` — screening question answers

## Running a Study with Prolific

If you're recruiting through [Prolific](https://www.prolific.co/):

1. Build and publish your quest on NeuroFusion
2. Copy the quest run URL (e.g., `https://usefusion.ai/quest/<guid>`)
3. Create a study on Prolific and paste the quest URL as the study URL
4. Prolific injects `PROLIFIC_PID`, `STUDY_ID`, and `SESSION_ID` as URL parameters
5. These are automatically passed to your experiments via `jatos.urlQueryParameters`
6. Configure your experiment to redirect to Prolific's completion URL when finished

<Info>
  See [Prolific Integration](/integrations/prolific) for the full setup guide.
</Info>

## Tips

* **Test the full flow yourself** before launching — join your own quest as a participant to verify onboarding, prompts, and experiments work as expected
* **Check the participant roster early** — make sure cohort assignment and participant statuses look correct after the first few joins
* **Monitor billing early** — check the expense breakdown after the first few participants to project total costs
* **Use kiosk mode** for in-lab studies where multiple participants share the same device
* Participants can complete experiments on **both web and mobile** — plan your study design accordingly